The interior steel structure of the National Herbarium’s roof above low stone walls, supported by a Y-shaped frame.

Program Sydney Design Week 2023 Eco Systems

National Herbarium of NSW

The National Herbarium of New South Wales houses a collection of more than a million plant specimens, making it one of the most significant botanical resources in the Southern Hemisphere. Construction of the new state-of-the-art herbarium facility at Mount Annan was critical to protecting the growing collection for future generations and pioneering in botanical science and research on a local and international scale.

Designed by Architectus with AIA Gold medallist architect Richard Leplastrier and landscape architect Craig Burton, the herbarium’s functional and sustainable design is inspired by the emblem of New South Wales: the waratah seed pod. Six protective vaults with precisely controlled environmental conditions are supported by the building’s elegant, long span ‘fly-roof’ which shields the precious collection from insects, mould, bushfires and other extreme weather conditions due to climate change.

This tour led by Eric Lee, associate principal at Architectus, and Dr Brett Summerell, chief scientist and director of Science, Education and Conservation at the Botanic Garden Sydney, guides visitors though the largest plant science facility in the Southern Hemisphere.